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Explanation:I know I may get shot down for offering such a "loose" translation, but I think there is quite a problem with translating Leistungssport into English and you may have to re-word completely to get round it. I feel confident that the distinction being made is between those taking part in sport/training for general fitness - i.e. at what can be quite a gentle level - and those who are already fit and are into pushing themselves as far as they can go. Leistungssport does not need to be either competitive or professional - in my view typical Leistungssport events are the marathons, triathlons, long-distance bike rides (e.g. this year's Paris-Brest-Paris ride - 1200 km in 80 hours) etc. where lots of people take part with no aim other than to finish within the permitted time (there may be an element of competition among the elite, but competition is not the primary purpose of many of these events). It's about endurance, pushing your own limits, and so on.

I would express it like this, as the Fitnesssportler trains for health reasons only, means, he has another profession and does his sports in his spare time. In opposite to the Leistungssportler who earns his living with sports.

Armorel Young: you don't have to be a professional to be a Leistungssportler - I have friends who do triatholons or 1200km bike rides - I would call that Leistungssport but the people who do it aren't professional

4 hrs

-> You're definitely right in your comment here. Maybe it also depends on kalimeh's context, which term she finds most suitable for her translation. Not very easy to find the right one here.

Explanation:I know I may get shot down for offering such a "loose" translation, but I think there is quite a problem with translating Leistungssport into English and you may have to re-word completely to get round it. I feel confident that the distinction being made is between those taking part in sport/training for general fitness - i.e. at what can be quite a gentle level - and those who are already fit and are into pushing themselves as far as they can go. Leistungssport does not need to be either competitive or professional - in my view typical Leistungssport events are the marathons, triathlons, long-distance bike rides (e.g. this year's Paris-Brest-Paris ride - 1200 km in 80 hours) etc. where lots of people take part with no aim other than to finish within the permitted time (there may be an element of competition among the elite, but competition is not the primary purpose of many of these events). It's about endurance, pushing your own limits, and so on.

Terry Gilman: Nice solution. I don't necessarily disagree with the previous posters, just want to indicate my agreement with the notion of offering a looser translation (as other posters occasionally do as well).

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